Henry Shipley belted out an absolute masterclass to derail the Sri Lankans as he bagged an all-important fifer, which encompassed Sri Lanka’s top-order, leaving them stuttering and stumbling in a crucial fixture against New Zealand.
Sri Lanka batted first and posted a staggering 274 on the scorecard as Finn Allen smashed a half-century to lead the show while Rachin Ravindra chimed in with a crucial 49 followed by Daryl Mitchell’s well-constructed 47. Chamika Karunaratne was the pick of the lot for Lankan side with figures of 4 for 43.
Sri Lanka was jolted to a rude awakening as they were bundled out for 76 with Henry Shipley breathing fire, claiming those top five batters while Daryll Mitchell and Blair Tickner shared 4 wickets between them at the Eden Park to grant a 198 runs win for the Kiwis.
Here is what Henry Shipley had to say about the match and its conditions
Talking in the post-match conference, Shipley said, “Being able to play in front of a home crowd and hear that roar when things are going our way is pretty special, and something that will stick with me for a long time. The noise in the crowd today and seeing the stump go flying was pretty cool.”
He also shed some light about the Indian tour, adding, “India’s a tough place to go, and you don’t win too many in the subcontinent, even though you try to win them all. I guess that confidence from the difficult conditions was something I could try and apply out here.”
Shipley further said, “The comms came back from the batters pretty early that perhaps it was going to be a little bit difficult to score,” Shipley said. “Sometimes when you see the short boundaries you get lured into a big total. I think we did well to get through to where we did. With bowling it was just about creating some pressure up top and doing our best to contain them. After three or four overs that started to work.”
This is how the match unfurled between New Zealand and Sri Lanka
New Zealand didn’t themselves have a particularly excellent batting innings, partly because Sri Lanka kept getting wickets at regular intervals just as partnerships seemed to be coming in handy for the hosts. Partly this was because of the extra bounce on this Eden Park surface, coupled with the thought that the batters wanted to go big at the short balls that were on offer, particularly keep in sight the shortest boundaries of the ground. Most of the batters ended up holing out to the shorter deliveries as their wickets went for a toss.
In Henry Shipley’s first international match at home, his parents and partner in the stands, he lived out something of a dream. He’d only ever taken one five-wicket haul in 42 previous List A matches. But at Eden Park, the crowd in voice for him, he decked Sri Lanka’s top order with the new ball and set New Zealand on course for a huge victory. As the series progress, Sri Lanka will try and get the best out of it, as New Zealand aims to spoil their party.
